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DOCUMENTS 


OF 


The  Civic  Federation  of  New  Haven 
No.  13 


The  Health  of  New  Haven 


By  PROF.  IRVING  FISHER 

of  Yale  University 


NEW   HAVEN 

November,  1913 


DOCUMENTS 


OF  THE 

Civic  Federation  of  New  Haven 

No.    1     Building  Lines  in  New  Haven 

September,  1909 

No.   2    The  New  Haven  Post-Office  Building  Problem 

January,  1910 

No.  3  A  Communication  from  tbe  New  Haven  Civic  Federation's 
Council  of  One  Hundred  and  the  New  Haven  Pas- 
tors' Union  Concerning  the  Government  of  New 
Haven  County 

June,  1910 

No.  4  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Civic  Federation  of  New 
Haven,  Connecticut 

September,  1910 

No.    5    Report  on  County  Affairs  by  the  Special  Committee  of  the 
Council  of  One  Hundred 
November,  1910 

No.    6    Improved  Housing  for  Wage-Earners 

January,  1911 

No.  7  Constitution  of  the  Civic  Federation  of  New  Haven,  Con- 
necticut 

March,  1911 

No.    8    The  Planting  and  Care  of  Street  and  Highway  Trees 

April,  1912 

No.  9  Third  Annual  Report  of  the  Civic  Federation  of  New  Ha- 
ven, Connecticut 

November,  1912 

No.  10     Mosquito  Control 

March,  1913 

No.  11    A  Survey  of  a  New  Haven  District 

April,  1913 

No.  12    Housing  Conditions  in  New  Haven 

October,  1913 

No.  13    The  Health  of  New  Haven 

November,  1913 

Copies  of  the  above  documents  are  for  distribution,  and  can  be 
had  of  Robert  A.  Crosby,  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Civic  Federa- 
tion, by  addressing  him  at  Room  709,  Chamber  of  Commerce  Build- 
ing, New  Haven,  Conn. 

Materials  printed  under  authority  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Civic  Federation. 


THE  HEALTH  OF  NEW  HAVEN 


i  THE  HEALTH  of  NEW  HAVEN 

BY 

IRVING  FISHER 

YALE    UNIVERSITY 

New  Haven,  in  spite  of  many  shortcomings,  has  in  recent  years 
made  so  much  progress  in  hygiene  that  she  compares  not  unfavora- 
bly with  most  American  cities.  The  Department  of  Health  and  the 
Health  Officer,  Dr.  Wright,  have  acomplished  much  when  we  con- 
sider the  total  inadequacy  of  their  appropriations.  We  have  for 
years  had  anti-spitting  ordinances.  These  have  never  'been  properly 
enforced.  Yet  they  have  gradually  developed  something  of  a  senti- 
ment against  the  filthy  and  un-hygienic  habit  of  spitting  indiscrim- 
inately. We  are  beginning  to  see  the  effects  of  the  Gaylord  Farm 
Sanatorium,  both  in  restoring  tuberculous  invalids  to  health  and  in 
educating  their  families,  friends  and  neighbors  in  the  prevention 
of  tuberculosis. 

We  have  an  active  and  efficient  Visiting  Nurse  Association  which 
is  financially  aided  by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  for 
the  benefit  of  its  policy  holders.  We  have  a  Day  Camp  for  tubercu- 
lous invalids  conducted  by  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association.  We  have 
an  active  Consumers'  League  interested  in  pure  foods  and  the  esta- 
blishment of  Pure  Milk  Stations.  We  have  the  Lowell  House  Settle- 
ment. The  Water  Company  has  installed,  for  some  of  its  supply, 
water  filters  of  the  most  approved  type.  The  milk  inspection,  though 
far  from  adequate,  has  greatly  improved.  The  milk  producers  and 
the  milk  dealers  have  been  somewhat  "educated"  by  the  Department 
of  Health,  so  that  now  the  chief  milk  contamination  is  probably  in 
the  homes  of  consumers.  These  now  need  more  "educating"  than 
the  milk  producers  or  dealers.  This  could  best  be  done  by  visiting 
nurses,  milk  depots,  and  public  lectures,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Department  of  Health.  We  have  now  a  State  law  forbidding  the 
importation  of  tuberculous  meat. 

The  city  tenements  are  somewhat  influenced  for  the  better  by  the 
Tenement  Law  of  a  few  years  ago,  and  by  its  more  recent  amend- 
ments. Privy  vaults  on  sewered  streets  are  fast  disappearing,  over 
several  hundred  having  been  abolished  in  the  last  year  and  only  about 
four  hundred  being  now  left.  We  have  established  a  fresh  air 
school.  After  many  years  of  waiting  and  struggle,  we  are  to  remove 
the  reproach  that  a  city  of  our  size  and  standing  should  be  without 
an  isolation  hospital. 

A  beginning  campaign  has  been  waged  to  rid  ourselves  of  the 
malarial  swamps  through  the  activity  of  the  Civic  Federation  under 
the  leadership  of  Dr.  Bartlett,  Dr.  Gompertz  and  Dr.  Britton,  the 
State  Entomologist.  This  follows  a  mosquito  survey  of  the  Con- 
necticut coast  made  some  years  ago  by  Dr.  Britton,  showing  the 
importance  of  draining  the  marshes  about  New  Haven  and  of  cover- 


2  THE   CIVIC  FEDERATION 

ing  with  oil,  every  ten  days  during  the  mosquito  season,  such  por- 
tions as  cannot  be  drained. 

We  have  already  reaped  some  returns  from  these  various  improve- 
ments by  a  reduction  in  mortality  especially  among  infants.  And 
yet  these  improvements  touch  only  the  outer  fringes  of  the  health 
problem.  New  Haven  has  still  much  to  'be  ashamed  of  in  compari- 
son with  some  American  cities,  and  almost  all  American  cities  have 
much  to  be  ashamed  of  in  comparison  with  London  and  other  up-to- 
date  municipalities  abroad,  as  well  as  some  of  our  "colonial"  terri- 
tory, especially  Panama.  This  will  always  be  so  until  two  condi- 
tions are  remedied :  public  apathy  and  inefficiency  in  American  boards 
of  health.  Until  recently,  Connecticut  was  the  dumping  ground  for 
tuberculous  meat  which  neighboring  states  would  not  take.  It  is  still 
true  that  the  meat  slaughtered  locally  is  under  no  government  in- 
spection. Some  of  this  meat  is  wholly  unfit  for  food.  To  improve 
the  quality  of  the  local  supply  of  meat,  we  need  a  municipal  slaughter 
house,  for  which,  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Wright,  a  movement 
is  now  in  progress. 

To  insure  ourselves  against  typhoid,  we  need  to  pay  attention  (1) 
to  our  stables,  (2)  our  privies,  (3)  our  garbage,  (4)  our  sewerage, 
(5)  our  milk,  and  (6)  our  water.  With  these  improvements,  New 
Haven  should  be  practically  free  from  typhoid.  It  is  now  known  that 
typhoid  is  carried  largely  by  the  common  house  fly  or,  as  it  is  coming 
to  be  called,  the  "typhoid  fly."  To  exterminate  the  flies,  we  must  at- 
tack their  breeding  places,  which  are  mostly  in  horse  manure.  Our 
stables  should,  during  the  fly  season,  be  cleaned  of  manure  every 
five  days  and  at  other  times  the  manure  heaps  should  be  kept  cov- 
ered. Flies  carry  typhoid  on  their  feet  from  privy  vaults  to  the 
food  in  our  kitchens.  There  are  probably  in  New  Haven  over  400 
privy  vaults — a.  disgraceful  condition  for  any  city.  A  large  number 
of  these  are  on  sewered  streets  and  could  be  connected  with  the  sew- 
ers if  the  owners  were  compelled  to  make  the  connections.  We  have 
ordinances  requiring  such  connections.  The  Board  of  Health  is  clos- 
ing many  of  these  vaults  every  year  but  special  appropriation  should 
be  made,  if  necessary,  for  closing  them  all,  liens  being  put  upon  the 
property  when  the  owners  are  unable  to  pay  at  once.  The  fight 
against  the  fly  must  be  largely  waged  in  our  garbage  cans  and  no  stu- 
dent of  the  garbage  question  will  claim  that  it  has  yet  been  settled. 
The  removal  of  ashes  is  unsatisfactory,  especially  in  tenement  dis- 
tricts, where  the  asbes  often  accumulate  filth.  Our  clam  and  oyster 
beds  have  been  polluted  by  our  sewers.  The  Board  of  Health  de- 
serves much  credit  for  its  courageous  order  forbidding  the  taking 
of  oysters  and  clams  from  the  inner  harbor,  especially  in  view  of  the 
strong  opposition  of  the  oyster  interests  and  the  surprising  indiffer- 
ence of  the  public,  the  beneficiaries.  Milk  has  always  been  a  com- 
mon source  of  typhoid.  The  milk  supply  of  New  Haven  comes  from 
some  120  different  milk  men.  The  inspection  of  the  farms,  dealers  and 
bottling  stations  is  inadequate.  We  need  a  law  against  selling  dipped 
milk.  Another  method,  which  has  been  found  effective  in  Montclair, 
N.  J.,  is  for  the  Health  Board  to  publicly  post  a  bacterial  count  of  the 
various  milk  men.     I  believe  the  Board  of  Health  owes  it  to  the 


THE  HEALTH  OF  NEW  HAVEN  3 

consumer  of  milk  to  let  him  know  just  what  sort  of  milk  he  is  buying. 
Typhoid  in  New  Haven  has  in  the  past  been  traceable  also  to  in- 
fected water  supply.  We  need  to  extend  the  filter  system  to  include 
our  whole  supply. 

We  need  more  thorough  medical  inspection  of  school  children. 
This  not  only  prevents  infection  among  school  children  and  the  con- 
sequent carrying  disease  from  one  home  to  others,  and  also  prevents 
the  progressive  development  in  the  individual  child  of  dental  decay, 
bad  eyesig'ht,  hearing  or  other  disabilities,  but  it  also  affords  a  means 
of  educating  the  child  and  through  the  child  'its  parents,  in  some  of 
the  elementary  facts  of  hygiene. 

The  matters  which  have  been  mentioned  all  relate  to  the  preven- 
tion of  infection.  Hygienic  progress  during  the  last  few  decades  has 
consisted  almost  exclusively  in  the  prevention  of  infection.  This  is 
a  natural  and  proper  result  of  the  discovery  of  the  germ  character 
of  many  diseases.  They  constitute  for  the  most  part  the  acute  dis- 
eases— typhoid,  smallpox,  scarlet  fever,  etc.  But  there  is  another 
class  of  diseases  equally  important — most  diseases  of  the  kidney, 
liver,  stomach,  heart,  blood  vessels  and  nerves.  These  may  be  called 
the  chronic  diseases,  the  control  of  which  depends  on  the  personal 
habits  of  the  individual.  The  two  classes  of  diseases  should  be  care- 
fully distinguished.  Acute  diseases  are  usually  given  from  one  per- 
son to  another  by  germs.  Chronic  diseases  are  given  by  a  man  to 
himself  by  over-eating,  the  use  of  alcohol,  tobacco  and  drugs,  lack 
of  sleep  or  recreation,  over-work  and  worry,  and  last  but  not  least 
by  bad  housing  conditions. 

The  prevention  of  infectious  diseases  is  accomplished  by  stopping 
their  communication  through  isolation  and  destruction  of  their  car- 
riers such  as  mosquitoes  and  flies,  by  vaccination,  disinfection,  street 
cleaning,  school  inspection.  Chronic  diseases,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
to  be  prevented  by  changing  wrong  habits  of  living  of  the  individual. 
This  is  accomplished  partly  by  pure  food  laws,  partly  by  tenement 
laws,  partly  by  playgrounds,  clean  streets  and  good  housing,  but 
chiefly  by  the  education   of  the  public. 

Few  people  yet  appreciate  the  fact  that  while  acute  and  infectious 
diseases  on  the  one  hand  have  beeti  decreasing  rapidly  through  the 
intelligent  application  of  public  hygiene,  yet  chronic  and  degenera- 
tive diseases,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  steadily  increasing.  This 
fact  has  at  last  attracted  the  attention  of  life  insurance  companies, 
leading  to  a  campaign  of  education  of  their  policy  holders.  We  need 
such  a  campaign  in  New  Haven.  Until  recently  it  has  not  been  re- 
cognized as  a  function  of  Boards  of  Health  to  educate  the  people  and 
in  New  Haven  little  or  no  thought  has  been  given  to  this  subject. 
Such  health  education  as  the  people  can  get  comes  from  the  New 
Haven  County  Anti-Tuberculosis  Association,  the  New  Haven  Dis- 
pensary, the  Consumers'  League,  the  District  Nurses'  Association, 
the  Civic  Federation,  the  United  Workers  and  other  similar  organiza- 
tions ;  but  it  is  now  being  recognized  that  the  most  effective  means  of 
such  education  must  be  through  the  Boards  of  Health,  in  co-opera- 
tion with  newspapers  and  moving  picture  shows  and  the  public 
schools.  The  moving  pictures  display  vividly  the  life  history  of  the 
typhoid  fly,  the  "trail  of  the  germs"  in  tuberculosis  and  the  story  of 


4  THE   CIVIC   FEDERATION 

dental  decay  and  prevention.  Chicago  has  led  in  this  matter  through 
the  energy'  of  its  former  health  officer,  Commissioner  Evans.  It 
maintains  a  low  death  rate  and  saves  thousands  of  lives.  New  York 
is  beginning  to  follow  Chicago's  example. 

In  Chicago,  the  newspapers  printed  Dr.  Evans'  "healthgrams'  and 
the  people  read  them  with  avidity. 

Latterly  Dr.  Wright  has  published  popular  comments  in  the  Month- 
ly Report  of  the  Board  of  Health  and  recently  attracted  some  atten- 
tion as  well  as  provided  some  entertainment  by  pointing  out  the  hy- 
gienic evils  of  kissing.  As  this  educational  work  expands,  the  Board 
of  Health  will  find  itself  in  closer  touch  with  the  public. 

In  this  work  of  popular  education  the  newspapers  must  play  an 
important  part.  ]vlany  of  them  are  beginning  to  feel  a  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility on  this  score,  especially  to  note  the  incongruity  of  preach- 
ing health  in  their  news  and  editorial  columns  while  spreading  dis- 
ease through  their  advertising  columns.  At  least  one  of  our  local 
papers  has  awakened  to  a  sense  of  public  responsibility  on  this  score. 
The  movement  toward  cleaner  advertising  in  newspapers  and  other 
periodicals  is  making  rapid  strides  elsewhere.  Some  magazines  like 
Collier's  and  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  have  not  only  eliminated  im- 
moral and  unhygienic  advertising,  especially  of  "patent  medicines", 
but  have  entered  on  a  crusade  against  nostrums  and  appliances  which 
undermine  the  stamina  of  our  people.  Some  newspapers,  like  the 
North  American  of  Philadelphia,  have  adopted  stringent  rules  as  to 
its  advertising,  such  as  the  following: 

(1)  To  exclude  obscene  announcements. 

(2)  To  exclude  matter  palpably  fraudulent. 

(3)  To  exclude  children's  remedies  containing  large  quantities  of 
opiates. 

'  (4)  To  exclude  preparations  for  adult  use  which  contain  drugs 
or  alcohol  in  habit-forming  quantities. 

(5)  To  exclude  all  advertisements  of  remedies  in  which  state- 
ments of  the  word  "cure"  were  made. 

One  reason  assigned  for  such  rules  was  that  the  paper  was  not 
free  to  preach  clean  living  until  it  practiced  it.  Evidently  any 
newspaper  which  advertises  immoraUty  and  quackery  ties  its  hands 
for  any  service  in  a  health  campaign.  But  when  through  an  en- 
lightened following  of  public  sentiment  all  decent  newspapers  fol- 
low the  examples  which  some  are  now  setting,  we  shall  not  only  be 
rid  of  a  powerful  publicity  force  for  evil  but  shall  acquire  in  its 
place  a  powerful  publicity  force  for  good. 

One  great  need  to  which  our  city  is  gradually  awakening,  and 
for  which  it  has  already  made  partial  provision,  is  for  playgrounds 
and  healthful  amusements.  These  are  useful  in  many  important 
though  subtle  ways.  They  induce  physical  exercise,  the  use  of  more 
fresh  air,  mental  relaxation  and  enjoyment  and  a  taste  for  those 
natural  and  simple  modes  of  spending  time  to  the  exclusion  of 
unhygienic  and  immoral  methods,  such  as  drinking,  gambling  and 
other  unmentionable  practices. 

I  have  grouped  the  health  problems  of  New  Havea  under  two 
classes,  one  relating  to  the  prevention  of  acute  and  infectious  dis- 


THE  HEALTH  OF  NEW  HAVEN  5 

eases  and  the  other  to  the  prevention  of  chronic  or  personal  diseases. 
But  the  two  cannot  be  altogether  separated  and  there  is  one  problem 
in  which  they  are  inextricably  interwoven.  I  refer  to  the  tenement 
problem. 

It  is  in  the  bad  tenements  that  we  find  the  worst  evils — over- 
crowding, neglect  of  garbage  and  sanitation,  accumulation  of  filth 
in  air-shafts,  carrying  of  diseases  by  flies,  and  contagion;  but  these 
conditions  also  mean  to  the  individual  lack  of  fresh  air  and  sunlight 
as  well  as  lack  of  opportunity  to  practice  decent  hygienic,  personal 
habits.  For  these  reasons  tenements  are  the  homes  of  tuberculosis 
which  is  at  once  an  infectious  and  a  degenerative  disease.  During 
the  year  1911,  seventy-three  tenements,  accommodating  from  six 
to  sixteen  families  each,  were  erected  in  New  Haven.  These 
menace  the  health  and  morals  of  the  city.  Many  of  these  large 
tenements  are  frame  and  without  adequate  fire  protection.  If  the 
working  people  in  Washington,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  can  be 
accommodated  in  one  or  two-family  houses,  surely  this  ought  to  be 
possible  in  New  Haven.  On  Hill  Street  a  first-floor,  three-room 
apartment  in  a  tenement  house  for  six  families  was  occupied  by  an 
Italian,  his  wife  and  three  children;  five  lodgers  were  kept,  who  have 
beds  in  the  front  room,  the  family  occupying  the  middle  room  and 
the  kitchen.  No  tenement  house  census  has  ever  been  made  for 
the  whole  city  of  New  Haven.  The  only  careful  studies  of  tene- 
ment house  conditions  in  New  Haven  have  been  made  by  the 
initiative  of  public-spirited  citizens  or  associations,  one  in  1903  cover- 
ing one  section  of  the  city,  by  Lowell  House,  and  another  in  1912  by 
the  Civic  Federation.  There  is  practically  no  tenement  inspection. 
Only  night  inspection  will  reveal  how  much  overcrowding  exists. 
On  State  Street  where  a  woman  died  recently,  it  was  found  that 
the  husband,  wife  and  two  daughters  slept  in  one  bed. 

There  has  been  started  in  New  Haven  a  movement  for  the  erec- 
tion of  better  tenements  on  a  semi-commercial  basis  after  the  model 
of  the  Homes  Companies  of  New  York  and  other  cities.  The 
first  model  tenement  is  now  being  erected.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  this  movement,  combined  with  education  in  household 
economics  or  good  housekeeping,  together  with  better  and  stricter 
laws,  may  arrest  the  tendency  toward  overcrowding.  The  use  of 
the  public  schools  as  a  center  and  medium  for  disseminating  health 
education  should  not  go  unmentioned.  In  some  respects  this  is  the 
most  promising  of  all  means  of  building  up  healthy  citizens  in  the 
next  generation.  In  order  to  secure  our  health  reforms,  we  certainly 
need  (1)  to  educate  public  sentiment,  and  (2)  to  supply  the  sinews 
of  war  to  the  Health  Department.  It  would,  in  my  opinion,  also 
be  an  advantage  to  modify  our  present  multiple  board  of  health  by 
making  it  frankly  advisory  and  not  dividing  responsibility  with  the 
health  officer. 

The  experience  of  the  Philippines,  of  Panama,  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  of  New  York  City  and  of  other  places  indicates  that 
boards  constituted  as  ours  is,  however  capable  its  members  may 
be  individually,  are  seldom  very  efficient.  This  inefficiency  is  due 
to  division  of  responsibility  rather  than  to  individual  incapacity. 


6  THE   CIVIC   FEDERATION 

The  health  officer  should  be  held  strictly  accountable  for  his  work 
and  should  have  a  long  term  of  service  subject  only  to  dismissal 
for  cause. 

The  returns  which  could  be  reaped  from  a  better  health  ad- 
ministration and  better  health  laws  are  incalculable.  Even  on  a 
purely  commercial  basis  hygiene  pays.  Dr.  Britton  and  others  have 
shown  that  the  cost  of  exterminating  malaria  by  draining  and  oiling 
the  marshes  is  repaid  in  actual  cash  many  times  over  by  better 
crops,  better  land  values,  and  better  earning  power  of  the  population. 
When  Gaylord  Farm  Sanatorium  was  established  eight  years  ago,. 
a  local,  hard-headed,  cynical  business  man,  in  refusing  to  contribute 
money,  asked  the  late  Dr.  J.  P.  C.  Foster  if  he  really  thought  that 
this  attempt  to  fight  tuberculosis  would  "pay."  We  are  now  pre- 
pared to  answer  his  question  in  the  same  hard,  cold-cash  terms. 
The  treatment  of  patients,  including  interest  on  plant,  has  cost  thus 
far  $278,000,  and  the  patients  whose  lives  were  thus  saved  as  bread 
winners  for  their  families  have  earned  $706,000,  besides  having  still 
left  a  potential  earning  capacity  conservatively  appraised  at  $2,- 
500,000.  Even  this  does  not  exhaust  the  commercial  value  of  the 
benefits  derived  from  the  expenditure  of  the  $278,000.  In  fact,  the 
chief  benefit  has  not  been  included;  this  is  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
of  health. 

Tuberculosis  is  one  of  the  slowest  and  most  expensive  of  diseases, 
and  if  a  calculable  return  of  nine-fold  on  the  investment  can  be 
obtained  within  a  few  years  in  the  fight  against  tuberculosis,  a  far 
larger  return  can  be  obtained  in  fighting  other  diseases.  In  fact, 
equally  definite  and  convincing  data  for  other  diseases  could  be 
given. 

These  data  are  not  in  the  realm  of  speculation,  but  represent  the 
actual,  practical  achievements  in  other  places.  Consider,  for  in- 
stance, that  wonder  of  the  world,  the  cutting  in  two  of  the  death 
rate  in  London  in  a  quarter  of  a  century.  London,  the  seat  of  the 
worst  visitations  of  epidemics  in  Europe,  the  awful  sufferers  from 
the  Black  Death,  the  type  in  former  times  of  bad  sanitation,  has 
now  a  death  rate  of  thirteen  per  thousand,  one  of  the  very  lowest 
of  the  cities  of  the  world  and  very  considerably  lozver  than  New 
Haven.  It  is  easily  within  our  power,  with  a  population  incom- 
parably smaller  and  sparcer  to  reduce  our  own  mortality  until  it  is 
again  where  it  ought  to  be,  below  that  of  London  or  any  other  city 
larger  and  more  crowded  than  itself.  We  owe  it  to  ourselves,  to 
our  children  and  our  children's  children  to  do  this ;  and  not  to  do 
it  is,  in  fact,  if  not  in  law,  criminal  negligence.  Dr.  Park,  Health 
Commissioner  of  Rockford,  111.,  after  an  extensive  comparative 
study  of  expenditures  by  city  health  departments,  assigns  85  cents 
per  capita  as  the  very  least  for  which  adequate  results  can  be  ob- 
tained for  cities  of  the  size  of  New  Haven.  Our  actual  expenditures 
amount  only  to  about  20  cents  per  capita.* 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  how  trivial  seem  the  objections  to 
making  more  generous  health  appropriations  on  the  plea  of  saving 
the  taxpayers'  money  or  avoiding  the  hardship  or  expense  to  the 
house  owner  or  the  collector  of  garbage.     Such  a  view  is  "penny 


THE  HEALTH  OF  NEW  HAVEN  7 

wise  and  pound  foolish" ;  it  is  saving  the  penny  to  the  taxpayer, 
the  property  owner  or  the  contractor  and  losing  the  pound  to  the 
city  of  New  Haven.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  greatest  enemy 
of  hygiene  is  commercialism,  but  this  is  a  misleading  statement. 
The  truth  is  that  the  greatest  friend  of  commercialism  is  hygiene. 
The  real  conflict  is  between  the  special  interests  of  the  few  and 
the  general  interests  of  the  many.  In  a  broad  way,  better  health 
is  not  a  means  of  spending  money,  but  a  means  of  saving  money. 
The  courageous  administration  of  a  public  health  office  will  not  hurt, 
but  help,  the  commercial  interests  of  the  community.  It  is  better 
to  advertise  by  showing  good  health  conditions  than  by  concealing 
the  existence  of  bad  health  conditions.  In  Springfield,  Illinois, 
the  health  officer  has  had  the  courage  to  publish  a  map  showing  the 
location  of  the  privy  vaults  throughout  the  city.  Doubtless  he  has 
temporarily  injured  the  value  of  property  of  these  streets,  or,  rather, 
revealed  its  truer  value,  but  real  estate  men  have  also  used  his  map  to 
enhance  the  value  of  property  on  other  streets.  Life  insurance  com- 
panies are  now  trying  to  make  money  by  lengthening  human  life  and 
some  municipalities  are  trying  to  make  money  by  advertising  better 
health  conditions.  The  enterprising  town  of  Winfield,  Kansas, 
boasts  of  having  more  bath  tubs  and  sleeping  porches  than  any  other 
town  in  Kansas.  Some  day  it  will  pay  New  Haven  to  boast  not 
only  of  a  pure  water  supply,  but  also  a  pure  milk  supply,  a  pure  meat 
supply,  a  pure  air  supply  and  a  low  death  rate. 

SPECIAL   HEALTH   NEEDS   IN    NEW   HAVEN 

1.  The  reorganization  of  the  existing  Health  Department,  in 
order  to  make  it  more  efficient  and  up-to-date.  This  could  be  done 
in  various  ways,  one  of  which  might  be  by  converting  the  Board 
of  Health  into  a  purely  advisory  body  and  having  only  one  Health 
Offi.cer  or  Commissioner,  who  should  be  held  strictly  responsible 
to  the  Mayor  for  the  conduct  of  his  office. 

2.  More  funds  for  the  Health  Department,  to  be  used  for  more 
inspectors,  officers,  milk  depots,  visiting  nurses,  lectures  on  health, 
etc.  An  immediate  increase  of  50  per  cent,  is  needed  to  accomplish 
what  the  Board  of  Health  has  in  view.  This  would  make  30  cents 
per  capita.*  Dr.  Wright  has  found  by  actual  inquiry  that  all  Ameri- 
can cities  with  a  population  of  from  75,000  to  200,000  have  larger 
appropriations  than  New  Haven. 

3.  More  funds  for  the  Building  Inspector^  to  be  used  for  the 
employment  of  deputy  inspectors,  etc.,  in  order  that  he  may  prevent 
violations  of  the  Connecticut  Tenement  House  Law  prescribing 
sizes  of  courts,  etc. 

4.  All  garbage  to  be  removed  at  least  every  five  days  during  the 
summer.  In  fact,  twice  or  three  times  a  week  in  hot  weather  would 
be  none  too  often.  The  method  of  garbage  collection  and  disposal 
should  be  improved.  The  municipal  collection  under  the  depart- 
ment of  public  works  has,  for  some  reason,  proved  a  great  dis- 
appointment. 

5.  The  abolition  of  all  vaults  on  sewered  streets  and  their  periodi- 
cal disinfection  on  unsewered  streets,  an  appropriation  being  made 
for  these  purposes.*  * 


8  THE   CIVIC  FEDERATION 

6.  The  passage  of  the  proposed  ordinance  requiring  all  horse 
manure  to  'be  removed  at  short  intervals.*** 

7.  An  investigation  aiming  to  discover  a  better  method  of  dis- 
posing of  city  sewage  so  as  not  to  contaminate  the  oyster  and  clam 
beds  of  the  harbor. 

8.  The  draining  and  oiling  of  malarial  swamps.  The  city  of 
New  Haven  has  only  a  small  area  of  swamp  land.  This  could  be 
easily  drained  and  utilized  for  parks  and  playground  purposes. ^ 

9.  The  establishment  of  a  municipal  slaughter  house  where  local 
cattle  can  be  butchered  under  an  inspector.  This  could  be  made 
self-supporting  by  the  imposition  of  a  small  fee.  The  cost  of  such 
a  slaughter  house,  I  am  told,  would  probably  be  about  $2,000.1^ 

10.  The  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  dipped  milk.^  The  passage 
of  a  law  requiring  approval  by  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  pro- 
cedure employed  in  sterilizing  milk.  The  adoption  of  the  proposed 
ordinance  requiring  milk  to  'be  cooled  soon  after  milking,  kept  cold 
and  delivered  cold. 

11.  Further  improvements  in  the  Tenement  House  Act.  The 
Board  of  Health  should  keep  a  continuous  life  history  of  each 
tenement,  the  occurrence  of  diseases,  disinfection,  etc. 

12.  The  extension  and  more  generous  support  of  the  work  of 
the  Visiting  Nurse  Association  and  the  United  Workers  (in  the 
work  of  their  visiting  housekeepers).  These  organizations  at 
present  are  our  chief  hope  for  educating  the  masses  in  sanitary 
housekeeping  and  personal  hygiene. 

13.  The  establishment  of  more  fresh  air  schools  such  as  those 
in  use  in  Providence,  Chicago  and  other  cities,  including  South 
Manchester  in  this  State.  We  have,  however,  as  above  stated, 
made  a  beginning.  ^ 

14.  The  better  use  of  our  schools  for  teaching  and  demonstrating 
hygiene  to  the  pupils  during  school  hours  and  to  the  public  at  evening 
meetings. 

15.  We  should  have  a  carefully-guarded  law  making  it  possible 
to  remove  children  from  families  in  which  there  is  tuberculosis  or 
other  menace  to  health.  We  can  remove  morally-imperilled  children 
and  should  be  able  to  remove  physically-imperilled  children. 

16.  More  playgrounds. 

17.  The  complete  elimination  of  unhygienic  advertising  by  our 
newspapers. 

18.  Last  but  not  least,  an  enlightened  public  spirit  appreciative 
of  the  overwhelming  importance  of  maintaining  public  health. 

*  Since  this  was  written,  most  of  the  increase  suggested  has  been  granted. 
**  Since  this  was  written,  provision  has  been  made  to  abolish  all  vaults  on 
sewered  streets  by  April  1,  1914. 
***  Since  this  was  written,  such  an  ordinance  has  been  passed. 

+  Since  this  was  written,  an  appropriation  of  $3,000  has  been  made  for 
draining  swamp-lands  in  City  Parks. 

X  Since  this  was  written,  the  Board  of  Aldermen  has  recommended  such  a 
slaughter  house  and  the  matter  will  be  considered  by  the  Board  of  Finance. 

H  Since  this  was  written,  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  has  recom- 
mended such  an  ordinance,  and  it  will  undoubtedly  soon  be  passed. 

§  Since  this  was  written,  a  new  open-air  school  has  been  provided  for. 


DO  IT  FOR  NEW  HAVEN 


That  city  is  well  fortified  which  hath  a  wall 
of  men  instead  of  brick.  — Lycurgus. 


ARE  YOU  INTERESTED  IN  NEW  HAVEN? 

If  your  answer  is  "no/'  you  waste  your  time  reading  this  page. 
If  it  is  "yes,"  what  is  written  will  help  you  and  your  city. 

ARE  YOU  WORKING  FOR  NEW  HAVEN? 

Are  you  doing  your  best  to  make  New  Haven  a  city  in  which 
you  are  proud  to  live  and  work ;  a  city  you  are  proud  to  say  is 
your  home,  or  are  you  letting  the  "other  fellow"  do  the  work 
wliile  you  enjoy  the  benefits  of  his  labor? 

DO  YOU  KNOW  THE  NEEDS  OF  NEW  HAVEN? 

Have  you  accurate  information  as  to  Schools,  Playgrounds, 
Housing,  Streets,  Parks,  Public  Health,  our  Dependents  and 
Defectives,  our  Industrial  Situation,  etc.,  and  w'hat  is  needed 
to  improve  conditions? 

HOW  YOU  CAN  HELP  NEW  HAVEN 

First,  you  must  know  New  Haven's  needs,  and  second,  you 
must  co-operate  with  others  to  meet  these  needs. 

ENROLL  AS  AN  ACTIVE  CITIZEN 
by  sending  the  following  letter : 

Victor  Af.  Tyler,  Treas,, 

Civic  Federation  of  New  Haven: 

Enclosed  please  find  $1.00  as  my  membership  fee 
for  one  year  in  the  Civic  Federation  of  New  Haven. 

I  wish  to  enroll  as  an  active  citizen  and  receive 
the  monthly  documents  and  notices  of  meetings 
of  the  organization. 

Signed 

Address 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 

This   book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing, 
as  provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  ar- 
rangement with  the  Librarian  in  charge. 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

C28(63e)MS0 

KA35.K45 
Fisher 


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